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Staggering, collapsing and losing consciousness in the street, these are Newcastle’s legal high users at the height of the city’s epidemic.

In scenes that look more like a zombie film than a busy city street during the day, CCTV captures those intoxicated stumbling, falling and passing out in full view of worried shoppers, workers and families.

The footage was filmed in Newcastle in January when the city became gripped by an unprecedented increase in the use of so-called legal highs, prompting Northumbria Police to team-up with other agencies to launch a task force to tackle the problem.

And now, just two months in, the force says it has already made real progress in beating this new drugs scourge, with a dramatic fall in incidents since the start of the year.

Chief Insp Nicola Waring, who overseas policing in the city centre says the footage, mainly captured in busy areas and during the day, shows just how bad the problem had got.

“The footage shows shoppers with children walking into the high street and coming across these people that look like zombies,” she said.

“It was absolutely shocking, even for the police. What me and my staff quickly realised was there was a decline in what the city centre was beginning to look like.

“We saw legal high users falling in the street and shoppers and passers-by coming to help them because of the state they were in. It wasn’t pretty.”

And Chief Insp Waring believes the fact that these substances were so freely available meant that people had no qualms about using them in public.

“I think because it is so freely available and because it’s not illegal people feel like it’s OK to take it in public,” she said.

Police have also had to learn fast when it comes to dealing with the legal high users they encountered on the streets.

Chief Insp Waring added: “It was an unknown problem at first. We have had to fast forward on our education. Officers have come across so many different types of legal highs that have different effects on different people.

“And for the officers dealing with it we didn’t know what to expect. Some people just fall asleep. Some people were stumbling around. And some people were going back to their accommodation and being aggressive.

February has seen the a 51.7% fall in the number of calls to police relating to legal highs, while calls to paramedics have dropped by 63.1%.

Work has included undercover police test purchase operations, the execution of search warrants, legal high seizures and community protection notice warnings being given from the local authority to businesses thought to be selling the substances.

Alongside this all partners have been involved in educational and engagement work spreading the word across the city about just how dangerous legal highs can be.

Northumbria Police and Crime Commissioner, Vera Baird, said: “I have been a determined campaigner on this issue, calling for the Government to take firm action against those who make these products and those who sell them. Firm action is certainly being taken here in Newcastle and through excellent partnership working we have the results to prove it.

And Supt Richard Jackson, of Northumbria Police, added: “It’s good to see that the numbers of incidents involving legal highs have dropped and that the hard work that has been put in by officers and staff from all of the partner agencies is having a positive effect in the city. But we have no plans to let up yet.

“We will continue to target these dealers and take action, and work together with our partners to make sure Newcastle remains a safe city.”